Micro-windmills charge mobile phones

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Using batteries in our mobile phone is soon a thing of the past. In the future we will be able to rely on windmills only a few millimetres in size!

It sounds like science fiction but it will soon be a reality: The researchers Smitha Rao and J.C. Chiao at the University of Texas Arlington have designed and built a wind-powered micro power plant that is capable of generating enough energy to charge a mobile phone. The small windmills are 1.8 mm at their widest point, but there are as yet no generators that are so small. The researchers are positive however and say that it would be possible to charge your phone by simply waving it in the air or if waving it about upsets your work colleagues, it can be placed in an open window. The future is here and it is environmentally friendly. And there is no doubt that we have to alter the way we use energy. These types of micro power plants will become standard alongside conventional power sources.